1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a flat-panel display, and, more particularly, to a flat-panel display manufacturing apparatus which has an arrangement suitable to perform desired processes for large-size substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a general flat-panel display (FPD) manufacturing apparatus is illustrated, which is used to manufacture FPDs such as liquid crystal displays and plasma display panels (PDPs). As shown in FIG. 1, the FPD manufacturing apparatus, which is designated by reference numeral 1, includes a load lock chamber 100, a feeding chamber 200, and a processing chamber 300, which are connected in series. A gate valve G is arranged between adjacent ones of the chambers, in order to independently maintain a vacuum atmosphere in each chamber.
The load lock chamber 100 is connected to an external station, in order to receive a substrate to be processed in the FPD manufacturing apparatus for loading of the substrate or to discharge a substrate completely processed in the FPD manufacturing apparatus for unloading of the substrate. The load lock chamber 100 is repeatedly switched between a vacuum state and an atmospheric state, so that the load lock chamber 100 is selectively communicated with the external station. A loading die 102 is arranged in the load lock chamber 100, in order to load one or more substrates on the loading die 102.
Aligners 106 are arranged around the loading die 102, in order to correct the position of a substrate S load on the loading die 102, as shown in FIG. 1. The aligners 106 correct the position of the substrate S by diagonally pushing the sides of the substrate S loaded on the loading die 102. An exhausting device (not shown) and a gas supplier (not shown) are also installed in the load lock chamber 100, in order to change the atmosphere of the load lock chamber 100 between a vacuum state and an atmospheric state.
The feeding chamber 200 is connected between the load lock chamber 100 and the processing chamber 300. The feeding chamber 200 is provided with a feeding robot 202 arranged in the interior of the feeding chamber 200, so that the feeding chamber 200 serves as an intermediate passage for feeding a substrate between the load lock chamber 100 and the processing chamber 300 for loading/unloading of the substrate. The feeding chamber 200 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, so that the processing chamber 300 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere.
The processing chamber 300 is equipped with a loading die 302 to load a substrate in the processing chamber 300, and a processing device (not shown) to perform a desired process for the substrate loaded in the processing chamber 300. For example, an etch process is carried out in a vacuum atmosphere established in the processing chamber 300.
Such an FPD manufacturing apparatus may be of a cluster type in which a plurality of processing chambers 300 are connected to a single feeding chamber 200, as shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the feeding chamber 200 may have a circular or polygonal shape such that a plurality of processing chambers 300 are arranged around the feeding chamber 200.
Meanwhile, recently-developed FPD manufacturing apparatuses include vacuum chambers having an extremely large size, for example, a width of 3 m or more, in order to process substrates having a large size of 2 m or more. For this reason, there is a problem in transporting such vacuum chambers from a manufacturing place thereof to an installation place thereof. In other words, such a vacuum chamber, which has a width of 3 m or more, cannot be transported by land, taking into consideration the road conditions of Korea and other foreign countries.
Furthermore, where such a large-size vacuum chamber is manufactured in the form of a single body, it is necessary to use a large-size machining device for the machining of a metal material to form an outer housing of the vacuum chamber. In addition, the machining process is also difficult.
Also, when it is necessary to repair structures installed in the interior of the vacuum chamber, in order to eliminate various problems generated during operation of the vacuum chamber, the top of the vacuum chamber must be opened. Where the vacuum chamber is manufactured in the form of a single body, however, it is difficult to open the top of the vacuum chamber. Furthermore, much labor is required. For this reason, it is impossible to easily repair the vacuum chamber.
Due to an increase in chamber size, the footprint of the vacuum chamber in a clean room is also greatly increased. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an FPD manufacturing apparatus capable of efficiently processing large-size substrates without an increase in footprint.